End of the Year Round Up

Things have become a little quiet with nothing new coming my way recently so I thought I would do a little summary of what has happened this year.

The main highlights are that more people have got their apartments, the change of ownership of the resort and at last the opening of the golf course. 
 
In the picture above from a few years ago there was a sandy field  with the outline of the lake visible, whereas below there is a massive change in early 2010 and of course things have moved on since.

 The opening of the golf course is a big step forward and with the change of ownership it is to be hoped that OlaGolf will be good for the resort & will be more imaginative in pricing than Polaris World have been at their resorts.

Finally there will obviously be many who will currently or soon be completing on their own apartments and doing their fitting out. I well recall the time I spent searching here and there so once more I will recommend that you save time & effort and go to the supplier that I use and have been delighted with - Spanish Furniture Supplies where Matt & Nicky are a pleasure to deal with and I have still been going back for more items as time goes on.

Their website is www.sf-supplies.com and if you would like to see what they have done for me take a look at my "rental" site for my property at La Torre either by following the link on my home page on this blog or www.spanishholidayhome.org 

For anyone completing soon, the very best of luck with your property. 

Anyone going out there soon I would love to let others see any new pictures  or information you would like to share.

Latest Update

Tim has sent me some pictures taken in late October. He is also President of his block and has sent a copy of his email to his "constituents" which has interesting information which Tim is happy to share with us:

I have just returned from a weeks holiday at our apartment and thought I would drop you a quick update

Attached are some photos from the roof of our block, taken with a mobile phone so apologies if the quality is not so good.

In summary

• The golf course is great and very playable and interesting for all handicap levels
• The pro shop is now open for all day, I believe to 7pm (initially it was closing at 130pm)
• Be careful when booking, do not trust the Mar Menor II service as their is currently no link to the system on Las Terrazas, the number I was given by Dave (the Mgr) I believe is a mobile no. 638672797 or pop over to the pro shop and book direct.
• Pro shop only currently sells golf balls, so come prepared, but you can hire buggies and trolleys.
• Marshalls now policing the course, keeping good play speed, reminding no buggies to drive down middle of fairway and distributing water..
• It still seems possible to get your first round as a Resident 'free' - take a utility bill with you or face a big argument with staff, a key with plot number does not seem to be enough!!
• Work continues on the main islands, brick work now going in on the front apartments, the town centre is also very busy with work completed on the exterior floor tiling, and the actual 'supermarket' now with air conditioning plumbing in place.
• Strong rumour is that 'supermarket' could be open in 2 months, the amount of work being done would support this, however believe it when it opens is my motto!
• Work elsewhere seems to have slowed since the summer, it appears that some buildings will just be left as skeletons until more sales happen, understandable but ugly.
• People are moving in to the revised Phase 2 apartments, they look really good.
• The gardens / green areas all look very healthy and now a pleasure to stroll around or cycle!
• Lots of positive in local newspapers that the 'Paramount' development WILL go ahead around Condado and not Fuento Alamo, time will tell but will be positive for us all if plans firm up.
• During my travels, the Murcia to Mazzaron highway was closed for a section due to developments for Corvera airport, lots of official signs and lots of people working!

Overall, I feel things are looking up, and a very positive feel despite it still being very quiet considering the national school holidays (UK wise)

The emphasis on some of Tim's points are mine as I feel these could potentially be major items of potential interest.

Tim has renumbered the holes to show the current layout of the course which is reflected in the scorecard below.

 

Golf Course OPEN - the evidence!!!!

I received a few more photos this week from Nic, showing the man himself on the course at Terrazas, thanks Nic & sorry it has taken a while to post them - a busy week for me.

  The old house appears to have now been fully roofed.

And the Town Centre "Square" now has its fountains in place and is being tiled.

Publish Post

Latest Pictures from Terrazas & Some News Which May Help in the Future

The photos below are thanks to Nic, again, who walked the course yesterday and took these. They speak for themselves but I can't help saying "it looks really good!"

Thanks Nic.

The news I have received today is that the news which was rubbished a few months ago about Paramount Studios opening in Murcia looks like it may have some credence after all. The news comes from www.simplynetworking/es if you take a look at the link have a look at a couple of other stories on the theme.

It appears that the main mover is the man who also owns Real Murcia - the football team, so I would imagine that the park will not be based too far from the capital.

VIDEO OF "LAS ISLAS"

I took a very quick visit to the smaller island on 22nd August and took a short video which I have finally uploaded onto a davebangor uTube page. If you are interested you will find it here:
 
http://www.youtube.com/user/davebangor 


I also shot a short tour of the Old House but so far I am having problems uploading it to uTube. If and when I get it up I will post an update.

Would be good to hear from anyone out there at present. I know the Godfather is there, hopefully taking plenty of photos. All contributions welcome.

AUGUST - LAS ISLAS - THE GOLF COURSE

Last night I returned from a very busy two weeks at La Torre which included a 3 day trip to Granada (highly recommended - everyone should visit the Alhambra & nice tho' it is, I don't mean the restaurant on the industrial estate at Balsicas although I did go there 4 times - yummy)

I also played golf 4 times - 3 at La Torre & a trip to Hacienda Riquelme. The best of these was the La Torre Golf Society "big day" to raise some money for "Help for Heroes" which included a social evening in El Lago at La Torre.

I was fortunate to play with 3 fine gentlemen - Mark & Noel who like me are La Torre Residents and Dave Kingsland, a Geordie & Terrazas resident who was great fun to play with and who I hope to have a game with at Terrazas when I'm over next. We played pretty well together but alas no prizes.

One of the winning team was Clive Peterson from Wales, who is also a Terrazas buyer and follower of this blog. It was a pleasure to meet you Clive and your lovely wife Eve for a chat and a drink last week. Clive is a Penthouse buyer and is very close to moving in. I know that next trip over you will be staying in your own place so I hope all goes well and wish you both a happy future for your Terrazas holidays.

We had such a full two weeks enjoying the company of new friends as well as our Granada trip that I barely snatched a quick half hour at Terrazas on Sunday whilst on the way to the airport. 

Sadly I didn't have time to look at the golf course but understand from the many people I spoke to that it really is coming on and should indeed open  within the next month, possibly two. It appears that the building in towards the town centre is the main thing holding up the opening.

Happily I have received quite a few photos from other interested parties which include the golf course, more later.

What I did see was the Town Centre, The Old House and the work on Las Islas which is progressing rapidly from what I saw.

This is a shot of the Town Centre taken from beside the old house. The building is complete but the interior is still very much a shell with no discernible layout. Two things however did become clear to me:


1) It will form two buildings in a C shape around a courtyard which will have 4 fountains and this will face down towards the lake.

2) I went up onto the roof of the TC and I really don't think they have any plans for the roof which can be accessed by stairways on each building. These seem to provide access for maintenance and are "pockmarked" with vents for air-conditioning units as far as I could see. A pity in many ways as the views would be superb. I went onto the roof of the smaller building so I suppose its just possible that they may have a possibility to do something special on the larger.

 The following pic is from this roof  to Las Islas and another towards the Phases 2& 12 Penthouses. Las Terrazas is certainly starting to take on a shape albeit there remains a lot for Polaris World to accomplish.

What is very clear is that the apartment I have a deposit on (the 3rd Floor right-hand corner of the block on the end of the island) will have a spectacular view of the lake,mountains and down to the Mar Menor. As I am firmly committed to La Torre now, I do have regrets but if anyone wants to take it off my hands......well you know who to contact!!!

I wandered onto the smaller island and the next few pics are from there. My impression is that the islands and the lake are bigger than I had previously thought. There is nothing like some building work to give a sense of perspective although it is impossible to capture this in pictures!

Time was scarce so I didn't get as far around the island as I would have liked but I have taken a short video of the island and inside the Old House. I will post details of where to view these asap - possibly on here if possible.


The Old Manor House was worth making my first visit to and despite the continued uncertainty as to what it will finally become it is looking very interesting. It will be a restored version of what it once was and some of the original features are still in place at this point.

Again it isn't straight forward in describing what it will look like but essentially at present it comprises two large rooms on the lake side of the building, a central courtyard and an L shaped corridor running down  the Phases 1 side of the building and continuing at a right angle down the end of the building furthest from the Town Centre. At the angle of the corridor there is an entrance although that may change as it appears more likely that entrances from the TC side and the island side are more likely given where the majority of properties will be.

 

           Above and below are the two parts of the L shaped corridor

The doorway on the left leads to the room below which has a nice beamed ceiling. the opening in the centre leads out to the Town Centre side of the building.

 In the same room, this old set of wooden doors look to have given years of service however I suppose its debatable whether they remain. It would be nice to retain something of the old house. There are also some shutters and grills remaining out many are broken or missing.

The larger of the 2 rooms is below the "tower" below but in didn't have the time to explore it.

The following photos are supplied by Nic and they show the area and golf course around the Old House, Las Islas & the golf course nearby.

The pic above shows the House from across the lake with the small island in the foreground and the "set up" of 2 rooms on the lake side and the central courtyard can be seen.

The end block, at one time my dream location! Mind you I haven't heard a peep out of Polaris since July 2008 who knows if it actually is what they had promised to build - time will tell (which I think is the most used expression on this blog over the last few years!)

Nic's shots of the golf course show that it is all but ready to play and my brief glimpses yesterday seemed very much to confirm that opinion. 

Pretty encouraging views of the course.

The next photos are courtesy of Tim Long who has sent quite a lot!! I am going to show a representative sample here but as usual if you want to see more I always post the full albums on Picasa. 

Currently there are hundreds of photos in my web albums on Picasa so if you want to see all of the photos, both mine and those sent by nine generous contributors in 37 different albums dating back to June 2008, follow the link to 

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/davebangor

(You might like to bookmark the link for future updates.)

Here are a selection of Tim's photos:

I understand that the infinity pools are being built - the orange netting is where the pool is placed at the end of the island.

My thanks to Nic & Tim for the photos. The Godfather is going to Terrazas on 1st September so with any luck a new update won't be too far away.